"Fringe:" The One Where Giant Slugs Climb Out of Corpses' Mouths

"Fringe" left off with Olivia's (Anna Torv) abduction, so naturally it returns tonight with Walter (John Noble) giving a caterpillar LSD. "It's a special blend," he offers, helpfully. Peter (Joshua Jackson) says something snarky.

But soon we're with Olivia in her dire straits. She awakens, tied to a gurney, being tended to to a guy in a clown mask. "Who are you?" she asks, because guys in clown masks aren't wearing them to conceal their identity.

(Either someone scribbled some mathematical formulae on this photo, or this is what fills Olivia's mind on a daily basis, or it's a scientific procedure for escaping from bad guys.)

She gets a glimpse his shoes - loafers with tassels, not the sort of go-to footwear you'd expect to see on murderous thugs. (Those shoes, naturally, come into play later on.) He injects something in her backside and takes off.

Olivia goes to the "If you're going to kill me, can I please have some water?" card. Death Row inmates get better last meals. But her captors agree to give her water, which wouldn't be encouraging, given how she phrased her request. Of course, momentarily freed of her shackles, she then beats the crap out of her abductors and escapes.

Meanwhile, Fringe Division is being put through an internal investigation by Mr. Harris, who has it out for Olivia ever since she filed sexual harassment charges against him. (The FBI apparently is not familiar with the concept of conflict of interest.) Mr. Harris should be named "Mr. Exposition," because he provides lots of it, explaining the show for the benefit of newcomers who watching because they neglected to change the channel after "American Idol." He's going to make her life and those of her colleagues miserable, we're assured, though he seems an afterthought by the end of the episode. Peter says something snarky.

Anyway, we finally get to the meat of the episode - an immunologist is lecturing a class, then collapses and dies, with a giant slimy thing crawling out of his mouth, allowing a day player to shriek melodramatically. "At least he died teaching," is the best Walter can do to put a positive spin on the situation. Peter says something snarky.

(If Walter's going to bring the crazy every episode, the least he could do is dress like this.)

Things proceed to get messier, and the upshot is that maybe there's a mole inside the FBI (just like in "24!") or maybe not; maybe the conspiracy's bigger than Olivia's being told. And the producers throw in a little catfight to enliven things. Peter says something snarky.

And the "Remote-Free TV" bonus scenes - those that'll be cut when the show appears with the usual barrage of commercials - involve Olivia with her sister.

And Peter says something snarky.

- "Fringe:" 9 tonight; Fox Channel 11.